Manage visitors

The front desk runs on one screen: Visitor Management. Tenants register their guests in advance from the app; the desk sees them arrive, checks them in, and the host is told. This guide covers that ideal path, and — because it's the more common day — what to do when a visitor turns up that nobody registered.

Before you start

Have	Why
HqO Admin access with a role that covers Operations	Visitor Management lives under Operations.
Today's expected visitors, on the Visits tab	It's the working view. Keep it open on the desk, on today's date.
A clear building policy for walk-ins	Who verifies them, and what happens if the host can't be reached. HqO records the visit; the policy is yours.

Host emails, notification settings, badge printing and access-control passes are configured for you. If a visitor's QR code isn't working at the turnstile or a badge won't print, that's setup — see Visitor Management, or ask your Customer Success Manager.

How the job fits together

	Who acts	What happens
1. Register	Tenant (host)	Registers the guest in the app. The guest gets an invitation email; the host gets a confirmation.
2. Arrive	Front desk	The visit is already on the Visits tab. Check them in.
3. Notify	HqO	The host is emailed that their guest is here. No phone call needed.
Walk-in	Front desk	Nobody registered them. You create the visit yourself, then check them in.

Step 1: What the tenant should do

Tenants register guests from Register a visitor in the HqO app or on the web — the guest's name and contact details, the date, and the arrival window. HqO then emails the guest an invitation with the time and where to report, and confirms to the host.

This is the process to encourage, every time. A registered guest is a thirty-second check-in; a walk-in is a phone call and a form. When a tenant comes to the desk to ask you to register someone for them, do it — and show them where the button is in the app for next time.

Step 2: Check in an expected visitor

1. Go to Operations → Visitor Management. The Visits tab opens on today.
2. Find the visitor — search by their name, email or phone, or filter by Host or Host company.
3. Click Check in on their row. In buildings with access control, it's in the ⋮ menu at the end of the row instead.

The status turns Checked-in, and the host gets an email that their guest has arrived. When the guest leaves, click Check out in the same place; if your building has access control, that's also what revokes their temporary pass.

💡 Two more ways to check in, if your building has them. Scan QR lets you scan the code from the visitor's invitation email with your own device's camera; it needs an access-control integration — see the FAQ. A Visitor Kiosk lets guests check themselves in, with that QR code or by looking up their visit by email or phone.

Step 3: Register a walk-in

Someone arrives who isn't on the list.

1. Click Create visit.
2. If you see a Visitor / Vendor toggle, choose which they are.
3. Pick the Tenant Company, then the Host — the tenant they're here to see. The host must have an HqO account; see the FAQ if you can't find them.
4. Check the Date, Start time and End time — they default to today, starting now.
5. Enter the visitor's First name and Last name, and whatever contact details (Email, Phone) your building requires.
6. Use Add note for front desk if there's anything the next shift should know. It's internal.
7. Click Create visit. The visit appears on today's list — once they've been verified under your building's walk-in policy (for example, the host has confirmed), check them in as in Step 2.

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The host is notified exactly as if they'd registered the guest themselves, and the visitor gets the same invitation email.

💡 A returning guest? On the Visitors tab, find them and click Add another visit — their details are already filled in.

Option: everything in the ⋮ menu

Each visit row's ⋮ menu holds these actions — which ones you can use depends on the visit's status:

Action	What it does
Check in / Check out	Marks arrival and departure. Check-in emails the host; check-out ends any access pass. Without access control, these are buttons on the row instead.
Edit	Change the time, floor, host or details.
Resend invite	Sends the visitor their invitation again — useful when they've arrived without their QR code.
Notify host	Emails the host that their guest has arrived — useful before check-in, to bring the host down.
Print badge	Prints a badge on the desk printer. With access control, the badge carries the visitor's QR code.
Duplicate visit	Opens a new visit already filled in with this visitor and host.
Revert to Expected	Undoes a check-in made by mistake.
Cancel visit	Marks the visit Cancelled, tells the host and the visitor, and removes any access pass. Use it when you know they won't come.

Option: a group or a whole conference

Use the dropdown arrow on Create visit → Bulk visit to register many people at once — type them in, upload the CSV template, or pick a saved group with Invite group. Tick Save as group if the same people will be back. See Bulk Visitor Registration.

FAQ

I can't find the host when creating a visit. The host field only lists people with an HqO account. Either the tenant hasn't signed up yet, or they're registered in a different building. Enter the tenant company's office manager as the host instead, or the desk's own account — whoever you pick receives the arrival notification, so you'll need to tell the real host yourself. Then encourage the tenant to download the app. If the Host field is grayed out, your role or building settings don't let you choose a host — ask your Customer Success Manager.

The visitor has no QR code / the code won't scan. QR codes are only issued in buildings with an access-control integration; without one, the invitation email has no code and nobody can scan anything. Check them in manually with Check in on their row instead — it's exactly the same visit, just without the turnstile. If your building does have access control and a code won't scan, ⋮ → Resend invite sends it to them again, or print a badge.

A visit is stuck on Pending watchlist and I can't check them in. The visitor matched your building's watchlist. Someone with security permissions must review it on the Watchlist tab and click Approve or Deny before check-in is possible. Follow your building's escalation procedure.

How do I find who visited last month? Use the date picker on the Visits tab to go back to any day, or the Visitors tab for a searchable list of everyone who's ever been registered. Both export to CSV with the download icon; the Visits export takes a whole Date Range.

The tenant says they registered the visitor but they're not on the list. Check the date — the Visits tab shows one day at a time. Then check Host company isn't filtering them out. If the visit really isn't there, register it as a walk-in; the tenant may have registered it in a different building or not saved it.

Where to find the analytics

• Today — the Visits tab's color-coded count bar for the selected day: Total Visits, Expected, Checked-in and Cancelled, plus Pending, Approved and Denied walk-up requests if your building has a Visitor Kiosk.
• Any period — export the Visits tab with the download icon and pick a Date Range. The Visitors and Vendors tabs give you the all-time lists.
• Over time — in Intelligence → My Portfolio Analytics, the Portfolio Analytics tab counts visitor check-ins toward Utilization, the measure of how much your building is physically used, alongside access-control scans. Features → Access Control covers badge and access scans only, not visitors. If your building has access control, the Attendance card on the Operations → Access Control Overview also shows how many visitors are on site.

Related

• Visitor Management — every tab, filter and setting
• Building Guard Workflow — the guard's step-by-step for badges and ID checks
• Visitor Kiosk — self-service check-in in the lobby
• Watchlist